A case study into the application of web analytics data Human Rights TV Peter O’Neill Freelance Web Analytics Consultant www.aussiewebanalyst.com

What I am going to be talking about What is Human Rights TV The aims of the project Use the website Extracting basic data Exploring further Key findings Actions since then Summary of process

What is Human Rights TV

The aims of the project

Use the website

Extracting basic data

Exploring further

Key findings

Actions since then

Summary of process

What is Human Rights TV www.humanrightstv.com Brainchild of a friend Jack Adams Intended to give a voice to those without one Is independent of any agenda, political or otherwise A video archive of human rights videos Created by volunteers Uses Flow Player – open source video player Tracked using Google Analytics since 1 st June

www.humanrightstv.com

Brainchild of a friend Jack Adams

Intended to give a voice to those without one

Is independent of any agenda, political or otherwise

A video archive of human rights videos

Created by volunteers

Uses Flow Player – open source video player

Tracked using Google Analytics since 1 st June

The project – a website review Opportunity for me to learn Google Analytics by practical application of the data Review performance of the website, what is working and what could be improved Minimal direction given, no clear business objectives, targets or key issues

Opportunity for me to learn Google Analytics by practical application of the data

Review performance of the website, what is working and what could be improved

Minimal direction given, no clear business objectives, targets or key issues

Use the website Visit the website Click on different links Try performing key actions and finding key information It is vitally important to actually look at the website when trying to understand the data and what it means – to put yourself in the mindset of the visitor/customer The website should be reviewed while looking at data, in order to understand why a visitor may have navigated through the website as they did

Visit the website

Click on different links

Try performing key actions and finding key information

It is vitally important to actually look at the website when trying to understand the data and what it means – to put yourself in the mindset of the visitor/customer

The website should be reviewed while looking at data, in order to understand why a visitor may have navigated through the website as they did

Extracting Basic Data This is always my first step when looking at the data for a website I have a spreadsheet that I populate with basic site metrics, both at weekly and monthly level Look at the data and create charts to get a feel for trends and data segments

This is always my first step when looking at the data for a website

I have a spreadsheet that I populate with basic site metrics, both at weekly and monthly level

Look at the data and create charts to get a feel for trends and data segments

Explore further/deeper in the data How many people viewed videos? What were the top videos viewed? What were the top referring sites? What key words were they using on Search Engines? Are there links between the last three questions? How were people interacting with the website? What else looks interesting or weird?

How many people viewed videos?

What were the top videos viewed?

What were the top referring sites?

What key words were they using on Search Engines?

Are there links between the last three questions?

How were people interacting with the website?

What else looks interesting or weird?

Key Findings Low awareness of site based on low traffic numbers Low loyalty based on few returning visitors

Low awareness of site based on low traffic numbers

Low loyalty based on few returning visitors

Key Findings Sporadic peaks based on specific videos from specific referring sites Traffic from Search Engines more constant from wide range of search terms.

Sporadic peaks based on specific videos from specific referring sites

Traffic from Search Engines more constant from wide range of search terms.

Recommendations Add features to make visitors more loyal Add ‘Latest Videos Added’ element to homepage Add on-site search Add subscriber/feed option Use visitors to promote the site to others Add social bookmarking buttons to each video Add ‘send to a friend’ link to each video

Add features to make visitors more loyal

Add ‘Latest Videos Added’ element to homepage

Add on-site search

Add subscriber/feed option

Use visitors to promote the site to others

Add social bookmarking buttons to each video

Add ‘send to a friend’ link to each video

Key Findings 1,358 visits from organic search 620 different search terms used Less than 20% of visits from brand search terms 1,361 visits from referring sites Around 130 different referrers Top referrer only 14.8% of visits Some referrers had majority of visits concentrated in short time span and to particular video/s

1,358 visits from organic search

620 different search terms used

Less than 20% of visits from brand search terms

1,361 visits from referring sites

Around 130 different referrers

Top referrer only 14.8% of visits

Some referrers had majority of visits concentrated in short time span and to particular video/s

Key Findings Homepage is landing page for only 25% of visits Half of visits viewed an episode page first Bounce rate was 65.8% compared to 30.7% for all other pages Two thirds of visits ended on an episode page A series page was landing page 11.4% with bounce rate of 22.4% A channel page was landing page 12.8% with bounce rate of 41.1% Around 330 different videos were viewed on the site Top video was Mohammed Omer receiving BAFTA award (20.6%) Next two best were in the same series No other video had more than 100 views

Homepage is landing page for only 25% of visits

Half of visits viewed an episode page first

Bounce rate was 65.8% compared to 30.7% for all other pages

Two thirds of visits ended on an episode page

A series page was landing page 11.4% with bounce rate of 22.4%

A channel page was landing page 12.8% with bounce rate of 41.1%

Around 330 different videos were viewed on the site

Top video was Mohammed Omer receiving BAFTA award (20.6%)

Next two best were in the same series

No other video had more than 100 views

Recommendations Review SEO efforts Promote site to 3 rd party sites Link to other sites Make comments on 3 rd party sites with links back Review site navigation and page labelling Consider videos viewed per visit as a metric of success

Review SEO efforts

Promote site to 3 rd party sites

Link to other sites

Make comments on 3 rd party sites with links back

Review site navigation and page labelling

Consider videos viewed per visit as a metric of success

Reviewing website design/navigation While it is preferable to make recommendations based on solid data, it can be clear when websites should follow best practice design principles. To a large degree, I base these on common sense. For support, I recommend the book by Steven Krug ‘Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to Web Usability’

While it is preferable to make recommendations based on solid data, it can be clear when websites should follow best practice design principles.

To a large degree, I base these on common sense.

For support, I recommend the book by Steven Krug ‘Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to Web Usability’

Recommendations Standard page features/navigation Add a title on each page clearly defining the page contents Add a breadcrumb Add a link within the logo back to the homepage Redo the logo so that the website name is clearly differentiated from the tagline Add standard links on the bottom of each page for pages such as ‘About us’, ‘How it works’, ‘Privacy Policy’ and ‘Contact us’ Add a section for recommended links Review structure and layout for category navigation

Add a title on each page clearly defining the page contents

Add a breadcrumb

Add a link within the logo back to the homepage

Redo the logo so that the website name is clearly differentiated from the tagline

Add standard links on the bottom of each page for pages such as ‘About us’, ‘How it works’, ‘Privacy Policy’ and ‘Contact us’

Add a section for recommended links

Review structure and layout for category navigation

Recommendations Website information content Remove majority of blurb on homepage and place in ‘About Us’ page Remove these details from other pages as well Provide explanation of how website structure works Add information at each level on importance and relevance of videos in this section Set up a tabbed navigation for the episode pages Add specific recommended links for each video

Remove majority of blurb on homepage and place in ‘About Us’ page

Remove these details from other pages as well

Provide explanation of how website structure works

Add information at each level on importance and relevance of videos in this section

Set up a tabbed navigation for the episode pages

Add specific recommended links for each video

Actions post Report The report was delivered on 19 th Sept to the website owner and the website developer Both have given very positive feedback and agreed with most of the points/recommendations Some recommendations were already being worked on The developer has recommended switching to using their trial news site (news.humanrightstv.com) as their homepage The document is being used as the basis to prioritise current work and to decide on future efforts

The report was delivered on 19 th Sept to the website owner and the website developer

Both have given very positive feedback and agreed with most of the points/recommendations

Some recommendations were already being worked on

The developer has recommended switching to using their trial news site (news.humanrightstv.com) as their homepage

The document is being used as the basis to prioritise current work and to decide on future efforts

Summary Talk to stakeholders, get understanding of business/website objectives and what they want from the report Look at the website and try using, continue reviewing site when reviewing the data Extract basic data and get a feel for overall trends Explore the data further around any areas that seem to contain points of interest or feel weird Issues with basic web usability can be obvious The focus should be on actionable insights and recommending courses of action, not on just reporting the stats

Talk to stakeholders, get understanding of business/website objectives and what they want from the report

Look at the website and try using, continue reviewing site when reviewing the data

Extract basic data and get a feel for overall trends

Explore the data further around any areas that seem to contain points of interest or feel weird

Issues with basic web usability can be obvious

The focus should be on actionable insights and recommending courses of action, not on just reporting the stats